The apology was read at 9am to the minute, as the first action
of the second sitting day of the 42nd Parliament of Australia.

Both Mr Rudd and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin
received a standing ovation as they entered the Great Hall before
the Prime Minister delivered the speech.

The reading of the 361-word apology was completed by 9.30am and
was watched by hundreds of parliamentarians, former prime ministers
and representatives of the indigenous community.

Former prime ministers Paul Keating, Bob Hawke, Gough Whitlam and
Malcolm Fraser and Sir William Deane were all seated on the floor
of the Parliament as well as 17 people representing the stolen
generation.

Removing a stain from the soul of Australia

In another address directly after reading the apology, Mr Rudd
spoke of removing a "stain from the soul of Australia".

"The time has come, well and truly come ... for all Australians,
those who are indigenous and those who are not to come together,
truly reconcile and together build a truly great nation."

The Prime Minister also discussed the first-hand accounts in the
Keating government-sponsored report Bringing Them
Home.

"There is something terribly primal about these first-hand
accounts. The pain is searing, it screams from the pages - the
hurt, the humiliation, the degradation and the sheer brutality of
the act of physically separating a mother from her children is a
deep assault on our senses and on our most elemental sense of
humanity.

"These stories cry out to be heard, they cry out for an
apology.

"Instead from the nation's Parliament there has been a stony and
stubborn and deafening silence for more than a decade.

"A view that somehow we the Parliament should suspend our most
basic instincts of what is right and what is wrong.

"A view that instead we should look for any pretext to push this
great wrong to one side.

"To leave it languishing with the historians, the academics and
the cultural warriors as if the stolen generations are little more
than an interesting sociological phenomenon.

"But the stolen generations are not intellectual curiosities,
they are human beings, human beings who have been damaged deeply by
the decisions of parliaments and governments.

Time for denial is at an end

"But as of today the time for denial, the time for delay, has at
last come to an end."

At 9.28pm Mr Rudd finished his address, and was greeted by loud and
lasting applause by both sides of the house.

He reached across the house's table and shook the hand of
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson before returning to the front
bench, where he himself applauded.

Brendan Nelson

Dr Nelson then stood and delivered a speech in support of the
apology.

"We will be at our best today, and every day, if we call to
place ourselves in the shoes of others," he said, "imbued with the
imaginative capacity to see this issue through their eyes with
decency and respect.

"We cannot from the comfort of the 21st century begin to imagine
what they overcame, indigenous and non-indigenous to give us what
we have and make us who we are.

"We do know that language, disease, ignorance, good intentions,
basic human prejudices and a cultural and technological chasm
combined to create a harshness exceed only by the land.

"In saying we are sorry, and deeply sorry, we remind ourselves
that each generation lives in ignorance of the long-term
consequences of its actions."

At the end of Mr Rudds's speech, all MPs stood except for the
Liberal MP Chris Pearce. Mr Pearce did stand after Dr Nelson's
speech.

Liberal MPs Wilson Tuckey and Don Randall were not in the
chamber.

People watching in the Great Hall turned their backs during Dr
Nelson's speech.

Paul Keating: words more important than
money

Mr Keating told ABC TV: "This is a day of open hearts.

"A country has always got to look for its golden threads and
when we start looking for the black threads you lose your way," he
said. "We lost our way for a decade looking for black threads.

"What is important is that when policy cut across the human
spirit we are always in for misery and as a consequence the stolen
generation was a cut right across the spirit of those people and
the soul of the country."

Mr Keating's government was responsible for commissioning a
report into the stolen generations which focused on possible
processes of compensation.

However today, Mr Keating said words were more important than
money.
"It is true the report does in some respects focus on
compensation," he said.

"The most important thing is the sorry. The most important thing
is the national emotional response. I don't believe that these
separations or that sadness will ever be settled in a monetary
sense.

"It can never be settled in a monetary sense. Far more important
in my term was to settle it in an emotional sense and that's what
the prime minister and government have done today.''

Redfern

Mr Rudd's speech received a standing ovation at the Redfern
Community Centre, where hundreds gathered.

Residents, workers, families, students and Sydney's Lord Mayor
Clover Moore braved the rain to watch the speech via a large
outdoor screen.

David Page, composer with the indigenous dance group Bangarra
Dance Theatre, said he liked the fact that Mr Rudd made a personal
apology.

"It was very moving to see a prime minister with a bit of heart.
I loved it when he said he was sorry. There was just something
personal about it. It's very hard for a prime minister to be
personal," he said.

Enid Williams, 72, who was brought up on a mission in north
Queensland after her father was forcibly removed from his family,
said she was happy with Mr Rudd's speech, but said it was now
important to look to the future.

"I'm 72. The main thing is the young people, to give them a
better future."

Martin Place

At Martin Place in Sydney, hundreds of Sydneysiders from all
walks of life gathered to watch the Sorry Day celebrations holding
Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.

Men and women in business suits, schoolchildren and other
passers-by of all different backgrounds cried, smiled and stood in
respect as they listened to Mr Rudd apologise.

Lawn at Parliament House

Many thousands more assembled on a lawn in front of Parliament
House to watch the apology on a big screen. As Mr Rudd delivered
the first of three sorrys, loud applause and cheering rang out.

Aboriginal flags and Australian flags coloured the air and as Mr
Rudd closed his address, the crowd rose to their feet in applause.
It was a standing ovation. Many were crying, most were smiling and
others just quietly said yes.

As Dr Nelson took the microphone, booing was heard. One woman
said he shouldn't have been allowed to speak.

"Mr Rudd's speech was just magnificent. It's a wonderful day.
Pity about the Opposition speech."

Ray Finn, 52, from Oodnadatta, South Australia, said: "My family
had been affected directly and I felt like the chain had finally
broke from us.

"There's still racism to deal with but hopefully from this day
we'll go forward together."

Torres Straits Islander Lydia George, from Erub Island, said:
"The first speech was very symbolic. The second speaker tarnished
it. I was thinking of my granddaughter and her future is now, not
tomorrow. She'll face a new future that will be bright. The healing
process has began."

Wilson Tuckey

Mr Rudd's speech was not greeted with unanimous approval, however,
with Mr Tuckey telling Sky News shortly before 9am he doubted
the speech - which has bipartisan support - would change
anything.

"So the Prime Minister reads a speech, apparently some people
stand up and sit down and then a miracle happens over night,
there'll be no petrol sniffing ... and girls can sleep safely in
the family bed at night," he said.

When asked by Sky News if he supported the apology, a technical
error occurred, with Mr Tuckey telling the camera he was unable to
hear the question.

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